Irvine, Calif., June 27, 2016 -- A first-of-its-kind survey has confirmed what some water polo players - especially goalies - have long suspected: Concussions seem to be prevalent in the sport.

More than a third of water polo participants reported sustaining a concussion either during games or in practice, according to a poll conducted by University of California, Irvine researchers.

China's plans to curb Beijing's health-damaging air by focusing on restricting emissions from power plants and vehicles may have limited impact if household use of coal and other dirty fuels is not also curtailed, according to a new study.

"You cannot have a clean outdoor environment if a large percentage of the population is burning dirty fuels in households several times a day," said Kirk Smith, a professor with the University of California, Berkeley's School of Public Health who co-led the study with Tong Zhu of Peking University and Denise Mauzerall of Princeton University. "The smoke may start indoors, but soon leaves the house and becomes a significant part of regional air pollution."

Researchers at Disney Research and ETH Zurich have demonstrated that consumer-grade light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs can, with some modifications, do double duty -- both illuminating a room and providing a communications link for devices in that room.

This visible light communication (VLC) system would be suitable for connecting the many devices, such as appliances, wearable devices, sensors, toys and utilities, that could comprise the Internet of Things, or IoT, said Stefan Schmid, a Ph.D. student at Disney Research and ETH Zurich.

A University of Adelaide analysis of genetic mutations which cause early-onset Alzheimer's disease suggests a new focus for research into the causes of the disease.

Previous research has revolved around the idea that accumulation in the brain of a small, sticky protein fragment -- amyloid beta -- causes Alzheimer's disease.

However, there is growing concern among researchers that this idea is not rapidly advancing global understanding of the disease or leading to successful treatments.

The University of Adelaide scientists, in collaboration with researchers from a number of other Australian universities, say their analysis points to a new theory about how mutations of a particular gene, PSEN1, can trigger early onset Alzheimer's disease.

A team led by Leigh Fletcher of the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom are presenting new images of Jupiter at the UK's Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Nottingham.

Obtained with the VISIR instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope , the new images are part of a focused effort to improve understanding of Jupiter's atmosphere prior to the arrival of NASA's Juno spacecraftJuno spacecraft [1] in July this year.

Oxford, June 27, 2016 - Sending text messages on a smartphone can change the rhythm of brain waves, according to a new study published in Epilepsy & Behavior.

People communicate increasingly via text messaging, though little is known on the neurological effects of smartphone use. To find out more about how our brains work during textual communication using smartphones, a team led by Mayo Clinic researcher William Tatum analyzed data from 129 patients. Their brain waves were monitored over a period of 16 months through electroencephalograms (EEGs) combined with video footage.